In his five-decade-long career, he has acted in more than 150 films in different Indian languages, directed movies and won several awards. Kamal Haasan, one of the finest actors of Indian cinema, completes 50 years in showbiz

It was the golden twilight of Indian cinema. A little boy of six was putting on the grease paint and rehearsing his dialogues, with grit that would shame veterans. His name was.... well... take a guess!

The wide-eyed toddler took the crew by surprise with his histrionics, and walked away with the President's Award for the best child artiste, the first of his four national crowns!

Everything that would later distinguish him as an actor was there in this first film: Composure in front of camera, brilliance in emoting, the ability to evoke empathy. And charisma.

As Chappani, a lame, dim-witted rustic, Kamal Haasan tests the boundaries of film acting. He experiments with costumes and make-up. The film becomes a massive hit at the marquee; wins critical acclaim as well. Kamal gets the viewer's nod for the offbeat move. Chappani serves as prototype for later Kamal characters such as the ones in 'Kalyanaraman', 'Swathimuthyam' and even 'Guna'

Film: 'Moondram Pirai'

Year: 1982

Director: Balu Mahendra

One of Kamal Haasan's greatest efforts till date. Compliments the lazy charm of the narrative with some brilliant emoting. A tearful Balu tries frantically to revive the memories in the once-amnesic woman he loved. India finds hard to hold back the tears. Bollywood is impressed. And Kamal gets his second national award.

Film: 'Nayagan'

Year: 1987

Director: Mani Ratnam

A take on Brando's Vito Corleone, Velu Naicker is authority personified. The six-to-sixty span of the character enables Kamal to showcase his "range". We see Marlon Brando, Al Pacino, Sylvester Stallone and Kamal Haasan for one ticket. 'Time' magazine rates this movie among the 100 best films of all time. The national award jury does an encore. Award number 3!

Film: 'Indran Chandran'

Year: 1989

Director: Suresh Krishna

Kamal Haasan's love for disguises is legendary. He writes 'Indrudu Chandrudu' ( remade into Tamil as 'Indran Chandran') for himself . Employs a jelly belly and a protruding canine for one of the double roles. The second one is for the adoring thousands: the handsome hero who sings and dances. Repeats the double-feat with aplomb in 'Apoorva Sahodararkal', in which he plays a midget to perfection.

Lifts Robin Williams' 'Mrs Doubtfire' and replants it in Indian climes. Plays a man who plays a woman. The disguise is perfect except that the excessive application of prosthetics gives his bosom and butt a stony look. Follows it up with another make-up marvel, 'Indian'. He plays an INA man rebelling against a corrupt system. Lands a fourth national award.

Film: 'Alavanthan'

Year: 1996

Director: Suresh Krishna

Yet another double-role. Plays brothers Major Vijay and Nandu. Tries to explore the inner world of the psychopath. Alleged use of steroids to achieve a menacing physique. A stand out performance by all standards. Receives a definite thumbs-down at the marquee. Retires hurt!

Film: 'Anbe Sivam'

Year: 2003

Director: Suresh Krishna

Gives a sneak peek into the beliefs that maketh Kamal Haasan, the human being—his atheism, his leftism and his faith in the ultimate goodness of mankind. Experiments on facial make-up. Succeeds in making the character, Nalla Sivam, look as grotesque as is possible. The film is rated as one of the best Tamil films till date. In spite of its altruistic, sincere intentions, 'Anbe Sivam' fails to set the cash registers ringing

Set in the backdrop of feuding Thevars, the film attempts a closer look at the blurring lines between right and wrong. Narrated on the lines of the Kurasowa classic, 'Rashomon', the director leaves the viewers with the case file and the hammer. Kamal's protagonist steals the show.

" KAABA"The House of ALLAH in Makkah. The Kaa'ba is covered by a black cloth known as 'Kiswa', which is produced & changed every year. Special factory designed for the making of Kiswa in Makkah. It costs approx. SR 17million..The cloth is made of 670kgs of silver dyed black, about 120kgs of pure gold & 50kgs of silver used in writing the Qur'anic verses over the cloth. The total area of the cloth is 658sqr meter

YourYearly Dementia TestIt's that time of year to take our annual senior citizen test. Exercise of the brain is as important as exercise of the muscles.As we grow older, it's important to keep mentally alert. If you don't use it, you lose it!Below is a very private way to gauge your loss or non-loss of intelligence. Take the test presented here to determine if you're losing it or not.The spaces below are so you don't see the answers until you've made your answer. OK, relax, clear your mind and begin.

1. What do you put in a toaster?

Answer: 'bread.' If you said 'toast,' give up now and do something else.Try not to hurt yourself.If you said, bread, go to Question 2.

2. Say ' silk' five times. Now spell 'silk.' What do cows drink?

Answer: Cows drink water. If you said 'milk,' don't attempt the next question.Your brain is over-stressed and may even overheat.Content yourself with reading a more appropriate literature such as Auto World.However, if you said 'water', proceed to question 3.

3. If a red house is made from red bricks and a blue house is made from blue bricks

and a pink house is made from pink bricksand a black house is made from black bricks,what is a green house made from?

Answer: Greenhouses are made from glass. If you said 'green bricks,' why are you still reading these???

If you said 'glass,' go on to Question 4.

4. It's twenty years ago, and a plane is flying at 20,000 feet over Germany(If you will recall, Germany at the time was politically divided into West Germany and East Germany .)Anyway, during the flight, two engines fail. The pilot, realizing that the last remaining engineis also failing, decides on a crash landing procedure. Unfortunately the engine fails before he can doso and the plane fatally crashes smack in the middle of 'no man's land' between East Germanyand

West Germany.Where would you bury the survivors? East Germany , West Germany , or 'no man's land'?

Answer: You don't bury survivors. If you said ANYTHING else, you're a dunce

and you must stop.If you said, 'You don't bury survivors', proceed to the next question.

5. Without using a calculator. You are driving a bus from London to Milford Haven in Wales .In London , 17 people get on the bus.In Reading , six people get off the bus and nine people get on.In Swindon , two people get off and four g et on.In Cardiff , 11 people get off and 16 people get on.In Swansea , three people get off and five people get on ..In Carmathen, six people get off and three get on. You then arrive at Milford Haven. What was the name of the bus driver?

Answer: Oh, for crying out loud!Don't you remember your own name? It was YOU!!

Now pass this along to all your friends and pray they do better than you.. PS: 85% of people fail most of the questions!!